Actually, we lack information about Satsuma.It make his intension is vague.
Exactly. The symbolisms are written all over:
Heir of the Jigoku (Hell Release) a style in which one gets more powerful for consuming others (Again, black smoke), The Sword who Cuts the Heavens (Who is more fit to cut heaven than a demon itself?), Golden Eyed Demon (A title the Ronin inherits after going to Hell if I am not mistaken)…
The only question is, are those symbolisms going to be fullfiled or proven contrary? If I had to guess Attunement and the Ronin’s connection to their Animal Spirit will play a huge role over that outcome.
Remember, the Ronin gains Attunement for acting like themselves, so identity and being true to their beliefs is an important theme since Book 1.
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The Demon with Golden Eyes is a title used by both The Ronin and Junko even before they go to Hell. The Ronin refers to themselves as being one (or formerly being one) during Book 3 when talking to Shatao I think, as well as when talking to Juni/Jukoni after they find the Ronin about to kill themselves during Book 4 pre-election campaign. But other than that yeah that’s all pretty fair.
Perhaps Spirit Attunement will end up being a major thing where horribly attuned Ronins fail in the end, while very attuned Ronins do succeed in the overall quest.
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Right, thanks, been a while since I read the previous books. But yeah overall I’m willing to bet that by killing Demons and absorbing them, the Ronin is slowly becoming one.
And only by reaching high levels of Attunement by the end of this quest will they be able to resist completelly giving in. If at all.
A scary thought, imagine a Crazy Bloodlusted Jigoku-Powered Ronin-Demon. Truly a sword fit for cutting every heaven in Hyuga and beyond.
If it comes to that I fear for the safety of just about everyone else…
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After finishing the book, I had a dejavu feeling about the next book, it reminded me of the shogi tournament
I bet our next problem will be infiltrating the academy with the kid’s body, answering shugenja related questions which are completely incomprehensible to our ronin while investigating about the demon
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Just finished and man i did not see that coming. I love this series so much.
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The pearly whites achievement seems to be bugged, I didn’t get it despite picking the teeth option
For that achievement, you need to use your teeth both with the Silent Lady and the Equalist in chapter 2. I’ve updated the guide with the fix here:
https://www.multiplechoicestudios.com/soh-5-achievement-guide/
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Ok, I can’t find the thread for Book 2, but I just started it. Can I choose a character portrait in 2 or is it only possible in 5?
Only in five
The character portraits are a new adition to the series, only Book 5 have them. I hope you enjoy the story, it gets better with each book.
Anyone has any theories on what the next demon is? I’m not very well versed in Japanese mythology, but with the clues we have maybe someone more knowledgeable can guess.
We know it’s a shugenja, capable of raising the dead, and there’s a strong indication he wants to change bodies with Masa.
Shiroyama - rokurokubi
Roderico - kitsune
Shatao - tengu
Kiyoshi - kirin
Sakiko - yuki-onna
Mountain Demon - ???
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It’s possible will be Nue (because this Demon represent of bad omen and disaster ) ?
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I would bet on the chance of being an Onryō.
From Wikipedia: “In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, Onryō are a type of ghost believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to “redress” the wrongs it received while alive, then taking their spirits from their dying bodies”
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Wait book 6 . Maybe we get more clue about this demon haha 
I would bet on the chance of being an Onryō.
Oh, that’s worst case scenario right there.
For those who want further context aside from the Wikipedia article excerpt: you"ve heard of The Grudge and The Ring?
Those are onryō.
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With all these clues I would have probably picked either a Shinigami or a Tatarimokke.
Shinigami mainly since they are death spirits similar to the grim reaper with the ability to bring back and raise the dead if they deem that necessary. Who knows, maybe our shugenja in question used to be a Shinigami in the service of some god before they decided to abandon their duty and do their own thing.
Tatarimokke on the other hand are vengeful and restless spirits who can also bring back the spirits of the dead to curse and ruin the lives of those who wronged them.
Though the Onryō theory doesn’t sound all that bad either.
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I like how in the subtext of the entire series, it’s played off that the Ronin is probably a genius. Gensai even said that in another era we would have been a master of the pen. I wonder if that will come up in the next book considering that we’re going to most likely be infiltrating a school for no common sense having book worms.
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I mean, Gensai and co.'s not exactly wrong.
Ronin has seen Strike of Non-Stop exactly once in their whole life and has never trained to use it unlike their own Jigoku techniques, yet here they can use it just as well and just as easily as the technique’s own creator.
They’re also a good poet (and Basho laments such talents are wasted on a Ronin), they can create new techniques/imitate another character’s (like Twisted Tongue/Champion’s Cross which are noted to be Nishi/Hatch’s moves specifically) and using deduction/observation can easily outsmart a crapton of their much more educated opponents.
Imagine this just ends up being like that one ATLA episode where The Ronin using their natural ‘Ronin-ness’ inspires the students to revolt against the headmaster. That’d be funny.
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Maybe I’m just in denial, but I dont think anyone besides maybe Basho died. After Eguchi & Momoko, if I dont see anyone die right in front of me or see evidence of their corpse, then you aint dead. Even Tanjiro is still alive!
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I’ll agree with that, narratively I don’t think basho and the others really had enough time to really make an emotional impact, which makes me think there not done yet. That does diminish there sacrifice for me a bit but obviously not for the ronin. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all came back in the same order in reverse ending with masa coming back then Jun/ko somehow. My theory for next book anyway
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